Tag / Bible worker

by In Light Of The Cross

Jesus Wept; The Bible and Human Emotions, Lesson 6

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Thoughts on Lesson 6. You may also download the SS lessons to your android phone.

 Often your mind may be clouded because of pain. Then do not try to think. You know that Jesus loves you. He understands your weakness. You may do His will by simply resting in His arms. It is a law of nature that our thoughts and feelings are encouraged and strengthened as we give them utterance. While words express thoughts, it is also true that thoughts follow words. If we would give more expression to our faith, rejoice more in the blessings that we know we have,–the great mercy and love of God,–we should have more faith and greater joy. No tongue can express, no finite mind can conceive, the blessing that results from appreciating the goodness and love of God. Even on earth we may have joy as a wellspring, never failing, because fed by the streams that flow from the throne of God.  {Ministry of Healing, p. 251-3}

After reading the following passage from Steps to Christ, I have adopted the attitude of, picking the flowers, and leaving the thorns alone.  As we collect memories from our lives, why not pick the flowers and leave the thorns alone?

 Many, walking along the path of life, dwell upon their mistakes and failures and disappointments, and their hearts are filled with grief and discouragement. While I was in Europe, a sister who had been doing this, and who was in deep distress, wrote to me, asking for some word of encouragement. The night after I had read her letter I dreamed that I was in a garden, and one who seemed to be the owner of the garden was conducting me through its paths. I was gathering the flowers and enjoying their fragrance, when this sister, who had been walking by my side, called my attention to some unsightly briers that were impeding her way. There she was mourning and grieving. She was not walking in the pathway, following the guide, but was walking among the briers and thorns. “Oh,” she mourned, “is it not a pity that this beautiful garden is spoiled with thorns?” Then the guide said, “Let the thorns alone, for they will only wound you. Gather the roses, the lilies, and the pinks.” 

     Have there not been some bright spots in your experience? Have you not had some precious seasons when your heart throbbed with joy in response to the Spirit of God? When you look back into the chapters of your life experience do you not find some pleasant pages? Are not God’s promises, like the fragrant flowers, growing beside your path on every hand? Will you not let their beauty and sweetness fill your heart with joy? 

     The briers and thorns will only wound and grieve you; and if you gather only these things, and present them to others, are you not, besides slighting the goodness of God yourself, preventing those around you from walking in the path of life? 

     It is not wise to gather together all the unpleasant recollections of a past life,–its iniquities and disappointments,–to talk over them and mourn over them until we are overwhelmed with discouragement. A discouraged soul is filled with darkness, shutting out the light of God from his own soul and casting a shadow upon the pathway of others.  Thank God for the bright pictures which He has presented to us. Let us group together the blessed assurances of His love, that we may look upon them continually: The Son of God leaving His Father’s throne, clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might rescue man from the power of Satan; His triumph in our behalf, opening heaven to men, revealing to human vision the presence chamber where the Deity unveils His glory; the fallen race uplifted from the pit of ruin into which sin had plunged it, and brought again into connection with the infinite God, and having endured the divine test through faith in our Redeemer, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and exalted to His throne–these are the pictures which God would have us contemplate.  {Steps to Christ, p. 117-18}

by In Light Of The Cross

Is Facebook A Waste of Time Or Does it Save Time?

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

It’s amusing when I hear people say things like, “I never have time to read my e-mail.” Fact is, e-mail saves time. You can reach 100 people with one mass e-mail instead of taking the time to call them one by one, or even mail 100 letters. Several times, these people will ask why they did not know something was going on, and I will tell them I sent them an e-mail. They defiantly respond, “I don’t read my e-mail.” Is it my fault they don’t read their e-mail and don’t know what is going on?

Now, with the popularity of Facebook, I still find people who think it is trivial and a waste of time, when in reality it is very useful. Just this week, I got a call that a Bible student of mine, had been rushed to the hospital and was not expected to live. Immediately I got on Facebook and several people saw my post and started praying. Later in the same day, I was conducting one of my weekly group Bible studies. Someone commented that they don’t get on Facebook because they don’t have time to read everyone’s trivial posts. I did not say anything, but I thought, asking someone to pray for a dying friend is not a trivial post. This is just one example of how Facebook can be used to quickly share valid information with hundreds of people.

I get amused when people tell me they don’t have time for Facebook, because I am on all the time, and I am also, frankly, one of the most busiest people I know. I log on in the morning, right after my prayer and devotionals, and as I read the statuses of my friends, in seconds, I see who is feeling down and in need of prayer and even a call or visit. I see who is struggling with their relationship with God, family and friends. I see praise reports. People share thoughts on Scripture that I can use later in my personal and group Bible studies and even apply to myself. That to me, is not a waste of time, or something I should be too busy for.  

Facebook does not even need to take extra time from my day. It allows me to use my down time more wisely. I do not text and drive, but with my android phone, I do check out Facebook while sitting at red lights and in traffic jams. I was going to be sitting at the red light anyway so I might as well be doing something useful, like Facebook. Same goes for when I duck into a Taco Bell for lunch, or am sitting in the doctors waiting room, or waiting for my next appointment to show up. I don’t see how people can say they are too busy for Facebook, or it is a waste of time, when I don’t use any extra time or effort to do it.

As Christians we need, to be good stewards of our time as well as money. Facebook is something I have implemented into my daily routine, to help me be more productive with my time. Time is more precious than money. Time is the substance of life. Life is a gift from God and I want to make the most of it. Facebook helps me do just that.

by In Light Of The Cross

Acts 20-24; The Life of The Gospel Worker

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves [with him].  Psalms 126:5-6

When God sends you out to work in his vineyard, as He did Paul, there is much joy but also amid much sacrifice and sorrow. It is not only a sacrifice for the gospel worker, but for their family and friends as well. Still, the love of Christ who left all for us, compels us to leave all for Him.

So to the apostle Paul, praying in the temple at Jerusalem, came the message, “Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.” [Acts 22:21.] So those who are called to unite with Christ must leave all in order to follow Him. Old associations must be broken up, plans of life relinquished, earthly hopes surrendered. In toil and tears, in solitude and through sacrifice, must the seed be sown.   

     Those who consecrate body, soul, and spirit to God, will constantly receive a new endowment of physical, mental, and spiritual power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own Spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth His highest energies to work in heart and mind. The grace of God enlarges and multiplies their faculties, and every perfection of the divine nature comes to their assistance in the work of saving souls. Through co-operation with Christ, they are made complete in Him, and in their human weakness they are enabled to do the deeds of Omnipotence. 

     The Redeemer will not accept divided service. Daily the worker for God must learn the meaning of self-surrender. He must study the word of God, learning its meaning and obeying its precepts. Thus he may reach the standard of Christian excellence. Day by day God works with him, perfecting the character that is to stand in the time of final test. And day by day the believer is working out before men and angels a sublime experiment, showing what the gospel can do for fallen human beings.  –Gospel Workers 112-113.

by In Light Of The Cross

Acts 16-20; Get your Own Relationship

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

This morning, as I reading through Acts 16-20, I first noticed a trend, confirming that we each need to have our own relationship with Christ. In chapter 17 verse 11, it reads, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”  I find so much in this one verse. 1. They did not take Pau’s word for anything, but checked out what the Scriptures said. 2. They did not casually read. They searched. 3. They did this every day. They were developing their own relationship with God.

Later, in chapter 19 verses 13-17 I read, “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.  And there were seven sons of [one] Sceva, a Jew, [and] chief of the priests, which did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”

These vagabond Jews, were not sincere. They were trying to use the power of God for magic, to make money for themselves. This is something I feel a lot of Christians even have trouble understanding. The power of God is not magic. It is not mystical. Magic requires no relationship, or connection. It is quite legalistic actually. All the wonderful and even miraculous things accomplished by Christ and His followers were done, not through magic, but through a relationship and process. The first clue that these vagabond Jews had no relationship with Jesus is seen in the fact that they mention Paul’s name right along with Jesus. They had no connection to Jesus themselves, so they mention the name of someone who did. That did not work. They needed their own relationship with Jesus. If they had known Jesus for themselves, they would have had no need to mention Paul. So today, when sharing Jesus, if we have a real relationship with Him, we need not mention what others know about Him, or what He has done for other people. We need only mention what great things He has done for us personally. Our relationship with Him should stand on its own merit.

by In Light Of The Cross

Acts 4-5; A Warning Against Hypocrisy

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Acts of the Apostles Chapter 7

While Ananias and Sapphira practiced hypocrisy by claiming to be more giving than they were, many were sacrificing dearly for the sake of the gospel.

As the disciples proclaimed the truths of the gospel in Jerusalem, God bore witness to their word, and a multitude believed. Many of these early believers were immediately cut off from family and friends by the zealous bigotry of the Jews, and it was necessary to provide them with food and shelter.  {AA 70.1}
     The record declares, “Neither was there any among them that lacked,” and it tells how the need was filled. Those among the believers who had money and possessions cheerfully sacrificed them to meet the emergency. Selling their houses or their lands, they brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet, “and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.”  {AA 70.2} 
     This liberality on the part of the believers was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit. The converts to the gospel were “of one heart and of one soul.” One common interest controlled them–the success of the mission entrusted to 
 them; and covetousness had no place in their lives. Their love for their brethren and the cause they had espoused, was greater than their love of money and possessions. Their works testified that they accounted the souls of men of higher value then earthly wealth.  {AA 70.3} 
     Thus it will ever be when the Spirit of God takes possession of the life. Those whose hearts are filled with the love of Christ, will follow the example of Him who for our sake became poor, that through His poverty we might be made rich. Money, time, influence–all the gifts they have received from God’s hand, they will value only as a means of advancing the work of the gospel. Thus it was in the early church; and when in the church of today it is seen that by the power of the Spirit the members have taken their affections from the things of the world, and that they are willing to make sacrifices in order that their fellow men may hear the gospel, the truths proclaimed will have a powerful influence upon the hearers. {AA 71.1}

I am currently working on my sixth year as a Bible Worker/Lay Pastor for the Tampa First Seventh-day Adventist Church. 

It has been a sacred honor and privilege to serve my Lord, His church, and community. Being in the ministry as a Bible Worker, one thing is certain. Most churches will not support a full time Bible Worker for six years! Maybe a year or two, but not six years and not full time. In Texas I was fortunate to have three churches, sometimes four, support me part time for almost five years. I want to thank my pastor, and the whole Tampa First Church family for willfully putting up with me for six years. I know it has taken a lot of sacrificial giving not just for a while but systematically for six years to put a full time Bible worker into our church and community. I pray that you are as glad to have me as I am to have you. I realize also that my church has not been sacrificing and giving just to see me write this. They have given from the heart because they love Jesus and they love the souls of our community and want to see them saved. When I got real sick last fall I saw that many of you were concerned, not for me alone but for the sake of the gospel in our community. It was a sobering experience for me. Thank you not only for loving and supporting me, but even more so for loving Jesus and the world He died to save!

I would like to dedicate this song, “Thank you”, by Ray Boltz, to my Tampa First Church family and all those who support the gospel work all over the world! Thank You!

by In Light Of The Cross

Acts 2; Speaking in Tongues

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Acts 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 
 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?  

 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 

The Bible clearly teaches that speaking in tongues is not a bunch of gibberish, but where people hear the gospel in their own language. Here is a study onthe gift of tongues.

The Gift of Tongues 

Acts 2:1-6 ———————- How did every one hear them speak?

Acts 2:7-11 ——————– Did anyone need an interpreter?

1 Corinthians 12:1-10 ——– Do all receive the same gift?

NOTE: In the modern charismatic movement it is claimed that all must receive the gift of UNKNOWN tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:7 ———— Are the gifts given to benefit the believer, or body?

1 Corinthians 12:11, 18 —– Who decides who gets what gifts?

1 Corinthians 12:28 ———– What place does tongues hold in the list of gifts?

NOTE: Of the three lists of the gifts of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:11-14, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12-14), only Corinthians lists tongues; (and even then at the bottom of the list) and that in seeking to correct a problem that had arisen from a corruption of the true gift.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ———- What is needed for any of these to be effective?

1 Corinthians 14:1, 5 ——— Which gift is the most desirable?

1 Corinthians 14:4 ————- Why is this greater than an unknown tongue?

1 Corinthians 14:6, 9, 11 —- Why should others understand what is said?

1 Corinthians 14:12 ———– What is the primary purpose of the gifts?

1 Corinthians 14:15 ———– What should one always have when praying?

1 Corinthians 14:18, 19 —— What did Paul say about tongues in church?

1 Corinthians 14:22 ———– To whom are tongues a sign?

1 Corinthians 14:26, 33 —— What was the apparent problem in Corinth?

1 Corinthians 14:40 ———– What is Paul’s closing counsel?

by In Light Of The Cross

Jesus Wept: The Bible and Human Emotions, Lesson 4

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

You may download the weekly adult SS lesson to your android phone here.

 I am no David Letterman, but suddenly I am in the mood to write top ten lists. In conjunction with this week’s SS lesson, here it is:

Top Ten Tips for Relationships

10. Don’t let Satan sabotage your relationships. A few months ago, during a church social, I was visiting with a teenager I previously studied with, before they were baptized. We were talking about having friends, and relationships. I told them,  sometimes I feel like I care more about my friends and family than they care about me. They replied, “I do too!” Then they paused and said, “You know, I bet that is just Satan wanting everyone to feel that way.” It’s good to know my young friend is already onto Satan and his lies.

9. Friends come first. I admire cultures that put friends before things. In some cultures, being late for an appointment is totally justifiable if visiting with a friend made you late. In the United States, we let time and appointments rule our lives, while in most of the rest of the Americas, time is subordinate to people. In Texas, I had some friends from Mexico, who would throw all their plans and appointments for the day out the window, when company stopped by unexpectedly. They were happy to do this. I love a culture that ranks people as their number one resource.  If I have a friend call and ask me to hang out with them, I gladly forget the game I was getting ready to watch, and go hang out with them. Friends come first.

8. Do not be easily annoyed. If your friends do things that annoy you, guess what? You probably do things that annoy them too. Your friends can criticize you as easily as you can criticize them, if that’s really how you want to spend your life. Some people annoy us, because they are so desperate for our attention. For example, let’s say you and I walk into an Olive Garden and they tell us it will be a 30 minute wait for a table. You and I can calmly sit there and relax while we wait on a table. Now, if a man walked into the Olive Garden who had not eaten for  a week, no way would he be able to causally sit and wait 30 minutes for a table. He would be making a fool of himself trying to get some breadsticks or whatever he could get his hands on. Some people make fools of themselves when they are starved for attention. Put yourself in their shoes and give them some attention. I am not saying reward bad behavior, but look past people’s faults and see their needs.

7. With very seldom exceptions, never write off a friend. We are all human. The field goal kicker who missed the extra point last week, will kick the 50 yard game winning field goal this week. You get my point. The friend who let you down yesterday may be the one who saves your neck tomorrow, and the friend who saved your neck yesterday may not be there for you today. Sure there may be times you may need a little space from each other. Life is a football game. Your friends are the players and you are the coach. Sure, you can sit your friends on the bench for a while, but don’t kick them off the team. Know what I mean?

6. Communicate. People ask me what my favorite music and T.V. shows are, but fact is, I would much rather sit and visit than watch shows. I find people more fascinating than T.V. I can watch a movie when I am alone. If I am with people then I want to talk. Oh…..and listen to them talk too!

5. Don’t just hear. Listen. Several years ago in Texas, I had a lady Bible student who was enduring a lot of stress at work. She would leave work and meet me at the church for our Bible studies. She would go on and on about her work problems before I would steer the discussion towards the Bible study. One day, I decided when she came in, I was just going to listen and not say anything until she quit talking. Two hours later, when she stopped, I had prayer and we went home. No Bible study, but she got to talk while I listened.

4.   Always be honest and always be polite. This is especially true in organizations, including the church. Over the years I have sat on several different boards. Sometimes I have encountered people who were afraid to speak out because they did not feel influential or powerful. Some people feel other people get their way because they have more money. Well, no matter how rich or poor you are, you always need to speak you mind, and no matter how rich or poor you are, you need to be nice when you do.

3. Don’t tell your friends what their motives are. You can tell your friends when you do not feel their actions were appropriate or even unacceptable, but do not tell them what their motives were. After the Haitii earthquake, President Obama allowed illegal Haiti immigrants to stay in the U.S. for a while without being deported. Immediately Republicans started questioning his motives and accusing him of having selfish reasons for doing what he did. So what is Obama suppose to do in that situation? Do the wrong thing so people won’t accuse him of having selfish motives for doing the right thing? In that situation, all he could do was the right thing, and as long as he was doing the right thing the motives were irrelevant at that point. The Republicans showed their true colors by being more concerned about the President’s motives rather being concerned about the people of Hatti. I am a Republican by the way.  We already make poor judges of other people’s actions, and we have no clue when it comes to judging motives.

2. Be conservative towards yourself and liberal towards others. Hold yourself to the higher standard while cutting all those around you a little slack. This is what Jesus did. In the Garden of Gethsemane He asked His disciples to pray with Him. They fell asleep on Him, and while He continued to pray, He excused their weakness by saying, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

1. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Replace the word, “love” with your own name, and then ask God to work in you, so that those verses will still make sense.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 18-19; The Closing Scenes

I am writing from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

   It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.  {Desire of Ages  83.4} 

John 19:25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the [wife] of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 

 19:26    When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 

 19:27    Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own [home]. 

  As the eyes of Jesus wandered over the multitude about Him, one figure arrested His attention. At the foot of the cross stood His mother, supported by the disciple John. She could not endure to remain away from her Son; and John, knowing that the end was near, had brought her again to the cross. In His dying hour, Christ remembered His mother. Looking into her grief-stricken face and then upon John, He said to her, “Woman, behold thy son!” then to John, “Behold thy mother!” John understood Christ’s words, and accepted the trust. He at once took Mary to his home, and from that hour cared for her tenderly. O pitiful, loving Saviour; amid all His physical pain and mental anguish, He had a thoughtful care for His mother! He had no money with which to provide for her comfort; but He was enshrined in the heart of John, and He gave His mother to him as a precious legacy. Thus He provided for her that which she most needed,–the tender sympathy of one who loved her because she loved Jesus. And in receiving her as a sacred trust, John was receiving a great blessing. She was a constant reminder of his beloved Master. 

     The perfect example of Christ’s filial love shines forth with undimmed luster from the mist of ages. For nearly thirty years Jesus by His daily toil had helped bear the burdens of the home. And now, even in His last agony, He remembers to provide for His sorrowing, widowed mother. The same spirit will be seen in every disciple of our Lord. Those who follow Christ will feel that it is a part of their religion to respect and provide for their parents. From the heart where His love is cherished, father and mother will never fail of receiving thoughtful care and tender sympathy.  {Desire of Ages, p. 752}

by In Light Of The Cross

John 17; To Know God..

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

  Said the Saviour: “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” And God declared by the prophet: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.”  {5T 737.1} 
     No man, without divine aid, can attain to this knowledge of God. The apostle says that “the world by wisdom knew not God.” Christ “was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” Jesus declared to His disciples: “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” In that last prayer for His followers, before entering the shadows of Gethsemane, the Saviour lifted His eyes to heaven, and in pity for the ignorance of fallen men He said: “O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee.” “I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world.”  {5T 737.2} 
     From the beginning it has been Satan’s studied plan to cause men to forget God, that he might secure them to himself. Hence he has sought to misrepresent the character of God, to lead men to cherish a false conception of Him. The Creator has been presented to their minds as clothed with the attributes of the prince of evil himself,–as arbitrary, severe, and unforgiving,–that He might be feared, shunned, and even hated by men. Satan hoped to so confuse the minds of those whom he had deceived that they would put God out of their knowledge. Then he would obliterate the divine image in man and impress his own likeness upon the soul; he would imbue men with his own spirit and make them captives according to his will.  {5T 738.1} 
     It was by falsifying the character of God and exciting distrust of Him that Satan tempted Eve to transgress. By sin the minds of our first parents were darkened, their natures were degraded, and their conceptions of God were molded by their own narrowness and selfishness. And as men became bolder in sin, the knowledge and the love of God faded from their minds and hearts. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God,” they “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  {5T 738.2} 
     At times Satan’s contest for the control of the human family appeared to be crowned with success. During the ages preceding the first advent of Christ the world seemed almost wholly under the sway of the prince of darkness, and he ruled with a terrible power as though through the sin of our first parents the kingdoms of the world had become his by right. Even the covenant people, whom God had chosen to preserve in the world the knowledge of Himself, had so far departed from Him that they had lost all true conception of His character.  {5T 738.3}
     Christ came to reveal God to the world as a God of love, full of mercy, tenderness, and compassion. The thick darkness with which Satan had endeavored to enshroud the throne of Deity was swept away by the world’s Redeemer, and the Father was again manifest to men as the light of life.  {5T 738.4} 

by In Light Of The Cross

John 16; Know When to Stop

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 

 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:

I am so glad we have a Jesus, Who knows just how much truth we can handle, and when it is time to lead us on to more truth. I remember when I was first learning how to play golf, I went out with a friend of mine from the Carrollwood Seventh-day Adventist Church. He would give me tips, on my swing and my stance. After several tips, all of which I appreciated, he told me there was a lot more I needed to know, but he was not going to tell me anymore today, because he knew nobody wants to be told all day long what they are doing wrong. I thought how cool. He knew both how to teach me, but also knew when to stop. Even Jesus, knew when to stop and leave things up to the Holy Spirit to lead His disciples into more truth at a later time. I pray that God will give me wisdom, like he did my golf buddy, and let me know when to stop “preaching” to people and let the Holy Spirit lead them on when they are ready.

It reminds me of a joke I heard a long time ago. One Sabbath, a cowboy went to church. When he entered, he saw that he and the preacher were the only ones present. The preacher asked the cowboy if he wanted him to go ahead and preach. The cowboy said, “I’m not too smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I’d feed him.” So the minister began his sermon. One hour passed, then two hours, then two-and-a-half hours. The preacher finally finished and came down to ask the cowboy how he had liked the sermon. The cowboy answered slowly, “Well, I’m not very smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I sure wouldn’t feed him all the hay.”